Got Crabs?

[bobross]

I've been seeing more people with crabs in their tanks and I was just wondering if anyone here has crabs(lol....in their aquariums) or has any experiences with them in a community tank? I think these would be a neat addition to a tank and wasn't sure if it was a good idea.

 

[raptorrex]

I've been seeing more people with crabs in their tanks and I was just wondering if anyone here has crabs(lol....in their aquariums) or has any experiences with them in a community tank? I think these would be a neat addition to a tank and wasn't sure if it was a good idea.

well i keep redclaw crab in my community. i have found that the fish and crab, get on well together. they seem to be mostly veggie anyway. in the end the redclaw crab is too small to do more than display, waving its claws above it head. if a fish takes real interest, the crab is off under the nearest rock. i know fiddler crab can be a bit tetchy so would not recommended them. rainbow crab, grow to a vast size, 8inches across the shell, and will destroy anything, plants other crab and your hands if you let it.

most "aquatic" crabs are in fact land creatures, so need some land to sit in, they are also mostly brackish critters. needing at least a brackish bath, on their land section.

 

[bobross]

most "aquatic" crabs are in fact land creatures, so need some land to sit in, they are also mostly brackish critters. needing at least a brackish bath, on their land section.
[/quote]



Brackish..... had no idea. Is there a type of crab that can be a freshwater community tank?

...brackish bath? you mean like a little brackish 'tub' above the water?



I always assumed that crabs could be underwater all the time. They seem like a comical little creature to watch. I wanted to have one or a couple of them once I upgraded to a larger tank, but of course all of my fish freshwater fish.

thanks for the feedback so far!!

 

[raptorrex]

yep they can live in a freswater community, make a little bit of a dry section, i have mine in the hood, and put a little tub of brackish 1g per liter will bo ok. i have known of crabs living 2 or more years in this way.

 

[puddle_inc]

i bought a poor red claw from walmart once, he didnt look healthy and he was in a cup, so i just had to buy him. he had a 10 gallon, shallow water, big pile of shells and lots of hiding places. he liked to get on top of the big shell and look around the tank from his shell. he got along great with my young crayfish (about 2-3 inchs) and he didn't bother the fish. he seems to eat the pellets i feed my crawdad, he was doing grreat. then one day i sawhim on top of his big shell looking at me, but he was dead

he was so cool, he even walked upside down on this treated piece of wood. he was awesome, and healthy. but then he just died, i don't know what went wrong.

 

[raptorrex]

i bought a poor red claw from walmart once, he didnt look healthy and he was in a cup, so i just had to buy him. he had a 10 gallon, shallow water, big pile of shells and lots of hiding places. he liked to get on top of the big shell and look around the tank from his shell. he got along great with my young crayfish (about 2-3 inchs) and he didn't bother the fish. he seems to eat the pellets i feed my crawdad, he was doing grreat. then one day i sawhim on top of his big shell looking at me, but he was dead

he was so cool, he even walked upside down on this treated piece of wood. he was awesome, and healthy. but then he just died, i don't know what went wrong.

yep both Cray and crab have a habit of checking out without warning. inverts are odd to work out sometimes. but it could be the lack of brackish water that got to it.

they like to practice their tricks in the most odd places

they seem to make friends given the chance

and they are a fascinating thing

 

[Darkehorse]

Neat. Is there any way you can suction cup a little platform with a plant leading up to the platform so the crabs could climb up to the platform? I guess you'd have to monitor the water level carefully, otherwise they could just climb out of your tank and end up dead and rotting somewhere in your house. Might be neat to do a archer / crab brackish setup someday.

-Darke

 

[puddle_inc]

i wanted to try to breed them, i was origanally going to try fidlers, but after i got the red claw, there just so cool. and they don't have a big claw that they use to clamp on to your finger. (yes it happened when i was little, i had many fidlers, they all died of old age).

i'm thinking about getting some more red claws sometime. that tnak currently has a small pile of shells with some of my miniature bass minnows, and there shoal leader, a cute full grown male rosy goldfish. i was afraid the crawdad was part of the problem so i havent got any more, but if it was just cause the crabs die sometimes for wierd reasons, i may get a few more sometime. i hate walmart, but i can't stand NOT buying those animals in cups...

so the crabs will kinda make friends with the crawdads? thats cool, i noticed mine gettin along and hanging out under the same shells. my crawdad is actually a wild type, he has blue tipped claws, tanish color body. i got him a while back when he was a new born baby, i was collecting some plants from a pond and he hitch hiked. i've had him for about 4 or so months, he is about 3 inches or so, veyr healthy and active.

is your cray in that picture an electric blue?

EDIT: almost forgot to say, there was a low brackish water in it. it wasn't too much to make it real dark water, but it seemed like enough to make a good place for the red claw. i also heard someone say the red claws can be in any type of water, guess i should of got other opinions.

 

[puppyduck]

aw wow. EVeryones crabs are so cute. I have hermit crabs but have no idea about "aquatic" crabs that live in peoples tanks.
I guess they are alot different to the shrimps you can get. Though boboboy, that thing in your secnd pic looks like a full grown lobster. hes awesome!

 

[puddle_inc]

i have a hermit too! what type is yours? i think mines a scarlet.



this was my crawdad when he was younger i'll try to get a new pic soon.

 

[raptorrex]

is your cray in that picture an electric blue?

no its just an ordinary Australian Redclaw cherax quadricarinatus

nice colour iut the tank too

 

[dizzied]

Crabs are pretty cool, but most people don't keep them in ideal conditions. A lot of the setups I've seen lately are simply to let the crabs survive and not thrive.

 

[loveforfhishies]

i had a crab for a while.. got him from walmart he was called a mini crab.. im not sure exactly what kind he was but he lived about 2 weeks until i found him at the bottom upside down

so ALL crabs need some dry land to go up on.. if so that would be his problem cuz i just droped him in the tank thinking he was an underwater crab since he was at walmart without land..

i want to get back into crabs in my tank tho. my pet store doesnt have many exept for these little water crabs by the lizards and stuff. they have land and water so maybe i could try one of them and make a spot of land for them in my tank? ill check to see what kind they are.